MARY McLEOD BETHUNE

excerpt from A SALUTE TO HISTORIC BLACK WOMEN, An Empak "Black History" Publication Series

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune has left her mark indelibly printed upon the walls of time as an outstanding educator, a giant of race relations, advisor to U. S Presidents, and the first Black woman in the United States to establish a school that became a four-year accredited college.  She was born to slave parents,  Sam and Patsy McLeod, in Mayesville, South Carolina in 1875.  Of 17 children, only she was born in this side of slavery.  She was a pilar of strength with perpetual drive and force.  By courage, faith and perserverence, she was able to elevate herself to a respected position.....It was not until she reached age 11 that a school opened some five miles from her home, and she walked the distance daily.  After graduation she was awarded a small scholarship by a White woman in Denver, Colorado who wanted to help one Black child attain more education...

In 1904, with the ever-present desire to educate others and $1.50, she founded a school for girls in Daytona Beach, Florida.  Her student body consisted of her four year old son, and five little girls who each paid 50 cents a week tuition.  Her school began in an old house near the city dump.  Through difficulties too numerous to mention, the school slowly  grew.  The student body grew from an enrollment of five little girls to a co-ed institution which became Bethune College.  By 1923 , when Bethune College merged with Cookman Institute, she had a student body of six hundred, 32 faculty members and an $800,000 campus free of debt.

Primarily an educator, Mrs. Bethune became involved in government affairs.  In 1930, President Herbert Hoover appointed her to the White House Conference on Child Health.  Several years later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her a director of Negro Affairs in the National Youth Administration and as his special advisor on minority affairs.  She also served as a member of the "Black Cabinet".  In 1945, she was a special emmissary of the State Department of the United Nations Conference.  In 1952, she was the personal representative of President Harry S. Truman at LIberia's inauguration ceremonies....

Mrs. Bethune left a legacy to her people, that her philosophy of living and serving would be inspirational to those who share her vision of a world peace.